Thursday, January 24, 2008

George Rears - 1980

George Rears The month on the cover says November, which implies a later summer, 1980 release. However, I remember this as a Fall issue…

I had turned thirteen that summer, and was finally getting used to living in my new town. I was still addicted to comic books, but I was still a DC guy in the world of Marvel Zombies.

The only thing I liked about the Marvel books was George Perez (I hadn’t discovered John Byrne on X-Men yet), and he had just came over to do The New Teen Titans. Having loved his run on Avengers, I could only dream about what George Perez would do with the Justice League. My favorite artist on my favorite book. That would be a combo.

The ironic thing about the whole thing is that I believe Justice League was my favorite book partly because it had the same artist on it from when I had started reading comics until then: Dick Dillin. Grell had left Legion, Novick was off of the Flash, Swan was doing Superman--but who else could do Superman other than Curt Swan? Historically, I now realize Aparo had still been on Brave and the Bold during the six years previous, though I wasn't buying it at the time--so let's not ruin the story.

So I'm riding in the car up to West Point New York, and I flip open the JLA 184, and wow. George Perez. Drawing the Justice League. And Darkseid. I couldn't believe it. I was all smiles as I read the book the first time. I was just as happy the second. Then about 15 minutes prior to arriving I started to read the letter page. Dick Dillin had died.

I felt guilty. Here I was enjoying this issue, totally oblivious to the circumstances that had caused it. This wasn't just a fill-in issue, or even just a creative change. Dick Dillin, the guy who told me stories every month for the past six years, would tell no more tales.

I remember being depressed that whole day. I also remember not being able to tell my parents why--they would never understand the closeness I felt to a person I had never met, talked to, or written to. The guilt went away, after a while. But I think part of my childhood died on that trip. Not only because the last connection to being a six-year-old discovering comics was gone, but rather because of a lesson learned: Be careful, sometimes you do get what you wish for.

You think YOU feel guilty? I remember picking up this issue and thinking, "Yay! Finally an issue without Dick Dillin art!" Boy, did I feel like a schmuck when I learned why.

Still, in all honesty I have to confess I was more than ready for a change in art on JLA, and I loved George's entire run (which turned out to be a mere "blip" compared to Dick's tenure). I just wish the reason for Dillin's departure involved something more pleasant -- like maybe moving back to World's Finest, or re-launching The Losers or something.

Anyway, thanks for a great post and one I related to on a personal level. As soon as I saw that cover, I knew what memories *I* associated with it, and it turns out I wasn't alone.

The weird part is Dick would have to have already been gone a few months before we heard about it in that lettercol. It's easy to forget there was a time we didn't get this kind of news instantly.

I think when I picked this issue up I was just discovering comic shops, and I had yet to discover The Comic Reader or any other comic news source. It was weird reacting to new that was 3-4 months old. It didn't lessen the blow...

Vincent... I'd love to see your story. It's funny how comics resonate with major life milestones.